Bare metal suspension parts - THIS THREAD IS OFFICALLY OVER

[76orangewagon]

Here are a few parts I had Powder coated using a Matte clear over glass beaded metal, The pinion snubber was just stripped in Evaporust and finished in Matte clear you can see a difference in glass beaded vs. stripped metal before the coating.

[anlauto]

As I said in your build thread, those parts look fantastic  Your car will look great when finished

[6Pack70]

This whole thread is making me angry!!!
....because I now wish I went the complete bare metal powdercoat treatment on all of my suspension pieces that are currently RPM'd or Seymours Stainless.  I will definitely go this route on the next one for sure.

[HEMICUDA]

A really quick job on both for a comparison.  Both parts were blasted and treated, one was really nice and the other pitted and flat power coated, which is which? 

[6Pack70]

I like the one on the right!!    Looks great!

[Cuda Cody]

This can be a wonderful topic and helpful to many people, but please stay on topic.  Share all the techniques, tips and photos of your own work and ways you accomplished it.  However, we're done talking about or comparing other people techniques, other peoples cars, or anything that is he said / she said.  We're all here to help each other and sharing techniques that keep the hobby fun and alive.

[HEMICUDA]

I like the one on the right!!    Looks great!

Come on Eddie, you have to guess which is powder coated.

[JS29]

OK i will bite, the one on the right was the pitted and powder coated flat clear. 

[HEMICUDA]

OK i will bite, the one on the right was the pitted and powder coated flat clear. 

Just got off the phone with Eddie, he guessed the same.  Nope, it's the one on the left that was pitted and powder coated.

[6Pack70]

Man that really is hard to tell which is which for sure. I'm buying a used oven today lol

[oldmoparbuff]

 I like the idea of powder coating bare steel parts.
No rust and parts are low maintenance.
I hate seeing parts I replaced 10 years ago, that look like crap now, because I didn't coat them.

This is the route I will take.
Keep posting samples.

[JS29]

OK i will bite, the one on the right was the pitted and powder coated flat clear. 

Just got off the phone with Eddie, he guessed the same.  Nope, it's the one on the left that was pitted and powder coated.

Impressive indeed!  I went and looked again, I see it now. the one on the left is a little lighter in color. looking under a car, who would be able to tell.     

[HEMICUDA]

OK i will bite, the one on the right was the pitted and powder coated flat clear. 

Just got off the phone with Eddie, he guessed the same.  Nope, it's the one on the left that was pitted and powder coated.

Impressive indeed!  I went and looked again, I see it now. the one on the left is a little lighter in color. looking under a car, who would be able to tell. 

That's the color they were before powder coating.  I think the color differentiation might be because the left and right shock plates were manufactured at totally different times, they didn't come off the same car so when I treated the part, they took it differently.  Maybe because they were done at different times, I usually do them in pairs when I'm restoring a car.  I did these for the comparison.  Or it could be because the big covered tub of solution I use is to old since I've been using the same stuff for 10 years now.

Obviously, the better the part is pit wise, the easier it will be to perform this process (like simple).  It does take some time to remove the pits from the base metal if you're powder coating for the OE look.  The other option is, powder coat the pitted part with a "simulated" bare metal or cast metal color, especially on lower control arms that are a PITA to remove pits from the metal when leaving it bare metal.  Most of the lower control arm is dipped in cosmoline anyway.  Put a much heavier initial coat on the pitted part and use the coating like a "build prime" and sand out all the pits and re-powder coat with a thin coating. 

I can tell you this, controlling the amount of powder going on the part "in house" so it doesn't look (chubby), I will never use paint of any kind, jingle can or otherwise, on a suspension part again.  After the small investment for the minimal equipment required and the powder, it's way less expensive for me not having to buy the epoxies, build primers and paint to do the same thing not to mention the superior durability and longevity powder coating offers.

Here's a picture of every single thing I need to powder coat, all the supplies and gun are in the bottom drawer.  I welded casters on the bottom of the oven to raise it up some and so I can roll it around the shop and pull it out only when I need to.

[oldmoparbuff]

HEMICUDA when you say tub of solution, what are you referring to?
What is the purpose of the solution?

[HEMICUDA]

HEMICUDA when you say tub of solution, what are you referring to?
What is the purpose of the solution?

It's a process I haven't given up yet. Essentially, it's a stain treatment of the metal to re-create the bare metal color the part had before being manipulated by a media to remove the corrosion.   It's a fairly common process higher end restorers have been using for years, you've seen it on OE gold cars and didn't know it.  When I run more parts for the pink AAR here, I will post pictures of the complete process, start to finish.  If you would like to discuss this further, don't hesitate to call me anytime, I'm more than happy to discuss the process with you.